The musings of a country gentleman, living in the Gipping Valley. There may be references to the House of Lords, parish councils, bureaucracy and travel, amongst other things. And yes, I'm a Liberal Democrat.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Open Up Now? No, I really don't think so...

The idea of involving more people in our democracy is always a laudable one. Increasing turnout, encouraging a wider spread of candidates and thus voter choice, making people feel better connected to those who purport to represent them, all of these are concepts which I whole-heartedly support. As a member of the Council and Management Board of 'Unlock Democracy', I don't just think about it, I play a small role in helping to campaign for real change.

And yet I look upon 'Open Up' with a degree of horror. The idea that all applicants should go through an open primary system to pick the candidates of each and every Party should really be seen for what it is - a nonsense. If a political party, open to all, wishes to decide how it should decide upon a candidate, then it should have the right to do so as it chooses, not through an expensive process which, may I remind the backers of Open Up, has to be paid for.

It's all very well for them to suggest that there is plenty of money available, as they do in their Q & A:

Of course, it will cost money to hold Open Primaries. But what price better government? From the financial crisis to the expenses scandal, it's obvious that our system must improve. As taxpayers we pay a lot now, and we're going to pay more. We need the best people to be the stewards for our money and our future. Against this background the extra cost of Open Primaries seems very small. On top of this consider the costs of a General Election…where we don’t have a choice in our candidates:

The Department for Constitutional Affairs estimated the cost of administering the 2005 general election in England and Wales was approximately £71 million in public funds. (House of Commons Written Answers for 25 May 2005)

Spending for the three main parties in 2005 was more than £40 million. (Electoral Commission, "Election 2005: Campaign Spending"). This is in addition to the £71 cited above.

Conservative Party £17,852,245

Labour Party £17,939,618

Liberal Democrats £4,324,574

What an astonishingly dense point to make. The first element is spent regardless, and pays for returning officers, the staff who man polling stations, counting agents, printing of ballot papers, the list goes on. The second element is raised by the political parties from their supporters. I can't speak for the two 'ugly sisters' but our Cinderella raises most of its money from our members and the money is spent on a small but precious staff, leaflets, posters and the tools used to communicate our messages to voters.

There is no suggestion as to how much open primaries will cost, nor what they hope to achieve apart from a nebulous concept that they will give voters more choice. Really? How does that work? In an open primary, is the whole electorate equipped to decide who is the best Liberal Democrat, or best Green or, heaven forbid, BNP candidate for its constituency? And if the political party spends all of its income on selecting a candidate, how does it then tell anyone what that candidate is campaigning about, or for, or against? Perhaps Alan Parker and his friends are planning to have a whipround?

Indeed, if they want the open process they claim to seek, are they going to prevent political parties from vetting candidates? At which point, how do you ensure that the Liberal Democrat candidate is actually a Liberal Democrat? And you know, I want to be confident that he or she is.

I'm afraid that this looks like a plot to remove smaller political parties, neuter the Liberal Democrats, and return British politics to the two-party red/blue politics of the 1950's. No, if they are serious about opening up the political process, why not campaign for multi-member open list constituencies elected using STV? That way, anyone can run, political parties are forced to offer up a range of candidates in order to appeal to a diverse community, and you abolish the safe seat.

Instead, this is not so much a missed opportunity as an attempt to hitch a ride on the bandwagon of public revulsion at politics, politicians and all of their works.

1 comment:

Agree completely--we already run closed postal primaries, we just don't call them that.

In safe seats (like Totnes, where I grew up) I can see open primaries being better, but in contested marginals? No point, let the members select the best candidate.

Worth noting that Open Primaries aren't allowed to be forced in the US, unconstitutional, breaks the right of freedom of association, a right we also have in the UK. Spurious campaign being run by idiots who haven't actually done their research. If the Tories want it for themselves, let them. If they want to allow it as an option for all parties, let them.

But forcing it on everyone is just plain wrong.

We could defuse it a bit by being a lot more public about our selection procedures, but the media wouldn't cover the contests so what's the point?

Of course, if we ever get what can reasonably be judged to be a safe seat, maybe we could talk about it. Nah, I don't want us to have safe seats, let's have STV instead.

About Me

Fiscal conservative and perpetually surprised country dweller, I learn something every day about life in a small country village.
When I'm not at work, I slip seamlessly into my second role as husband of, and consort to, my wife, Ros.

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